Difference between mtb and road saddles?

[tantrumbean]

What exactly is the difference apart from road saddles tending to have a longer nose?

The (men's) saddle on my new road bike is killing me - after about 15 miles it feels like my girly bits are being sandpapered, which is not a particularly pleasant experience. I'm wondering if this is to do with leaning over more on the roadbike, i.e. more pressure at the front, but whatever it is, the saddle will have to go.

This causes the following problems: a) I'm extremely skint at the moment, so lots of experiments with expensive saddles are out of the question. b) my choices are also limited by the fact that my sense of style, the colourscheme of the bike and the current white bar tape will only allow me to have a saddle that's either white or contains a large amount of white.

For some reason, there don't seem to be that many women's specific ones about that meet the criteria and all the designated road bike saddles are even more expensive than potential mtb options. I have found a reasonably priced black and white mountain bike saddle, that would LOOK ok on a road bike, but I'm a bit worried that there is something fundamentally different between the way road and mtb saddles are shaped, which means my riding position might not be suitable for this saddle...

Sorry, this is rather convoluted, what it boils down to is: Can someone tell me if, apart from nose-length and name, there are any other differences that I should be aware of?

Thanks!!!

[Irulan]

mtb saddles aren't as wide as road saddles; you need to be able to move behind it as needed. I personally would go for comfort first: are there bike police that are going to hassle you if you have the "wrong kind" of saddle on your bike?

[tantrumbean]

I am going for comfort first, but need to know if I should be ruling out mtb saddles from the start, before I even look at colours... It's more the front end that I'm concerned about, width at the back hopefully shouldn't matter too much...

[Flur]

I ride with a mountain bike saddle on my road bike. It's insanely comfortable (I don't even ride with a chamois) and doesn't look the least bit out of place. It might work you also as it's black on the top and white on the sides (I have white bar tape also - I'll post a pic if I can find one).

This is the saddle (http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=40421). It's a Specialized Ariel SL. Here's the black and white version. (http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCEquipPopup.jsp?equipimage=/OA_MEDIA/equip/2727-1150_-1155_l.jpg&equipmodel=Womens%20BG%20Ariel%20SL%20Saddle)

And to answer your original question (oops!), there's no real difference other than length and that MTB saddles tend to have more padding. They come in a lot of the same widths, and I ride the same width of MTB saddle that I would ride if I had a road saddle.

[sundial]

I ride with a road saddle on my mtb. :) Mtb saddles are generally thicker, heavier, and in some cases waterproof. But they can also be more comfortable on a road bike. ;)

[MartianDestiny]

Mountain saddle on a road bike is, IMO, fine. Road saddle on a mountain bike can get sketchy depending on your weight and riding style. I say this because road saddles tend to be lighter and less durable than your standard run of the mill mountain bike saddle and may not hold up as well. A mountain saddle should hold up fine on a road bike, but may be a bit heavier (who cares if it's comfortable!).

That said I think my road bike saddles are more comfortable than my mountain bike saddle (same brand, same width) because they are less padded and flex more. Go figure.

Getting a mountain bike saddle with more thickness/padding may mean you need to adjust your shorts preference to better suit.

[sundial]

I'm experimenting with a Brooks Flyer on my mtb since I'm riding backroads and dirtroads for now. If I am doing really techy stuff then yes, I will put the official mtb saddle back on.